NEW ORLEANS — On his first visit to the Crescent City since taking office, President Barack Obama spoke to throngs of Louisiana residents about the continuing recovery of both the city and the country.Obama spoke to the packed Recreation and Fitness Center at the University of New Orleans Lakefront Campus on Thursday as part of a nearly four-hour tour of New Orleans.Though thousands of Louisiana residents requested seats for the event, only several hundred were awarded tickets through a lottery. Others waited outside to catch a glimpse of the president.Once he took the stage, Obama often had to break his speech when drowned by the sound of applause and cheers. A cast of Louisiana characters attended the event, including Sen. Mary Landrieu, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Gov. Bobby Jindal. The crowd booed the governor when his name was mentioned, but the president said Jindal was working in the best interest of the country.”Bobby, if it makes you feel any better, I get that all the time,” Obama added.After committing to visiting the city within a year of taking office during his presidential campaign, Obama made good on his promise to remember New Orleans.”It’s always important to spend time with the men and women who have shown the country what it means to overcome adversity,” Obama said. “But even with all the action we’ve taken, we know how much more is still to be done.”Obama said rebuilding the Gulf Coast is a top priority for his first term. He cited his administration’s release of more than $1.5 billion from federal recovery funds caught in red tape as proof of his commitment.  Obama said he wouldn’t tolerate the usual turf wars between federal and state agencies.He also said the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will put thousands of Gulf Coast residents back to work and slash the number of people still living in emergency housing. When asked by an audience member about the millions of FEMA reimbursement dollars still undelivered to New Orleans residents, Obama only said his administration is working as quickly as possible to correct past government errors.”Some of these are not going to be solved overnight,” Obama said. “We are working as hard as we can to work through this issue.”Maria East, a New Orleans resident originally from Guatemala, said she expected more from Obama.”It was an excellent speech, but I’d like to see more commitment to build the levees up for a Category 5 hurricane,” East said.Obama admitted the economy was “as bad as anything we’ve seen since the Great Depression” and compared the rebuilding of the national economy to the rebuilding of New Orleans. Obama said the Recovery Act is only the first step to getting the country back on its feet. He also advocated new clean energy jobs and health care reform.The president didn’t offer many details on reform but challenged his opposition to either help with change or get out of the way. He vowed to pass health care reform by the end of the year.”Those folks who are trying to stand in the way of progress, let me tell you, I’m just getting started,” Obama said. “I’m ready to go.”
Obama warned of increased lobbying by insurance companies to oppose reform.”This is when the insurance companies are really going to start gearing up,” Obama said. “Their stock went down when Senate Finance voted out that bill. Now they’re getting nervous.”Some supporters and protesters remained outside and waved signs and banners to express their views.”The idea is to voice an opinion,” said Jonathan Randal, Baton Rouge resident. —-Contact Adam Duvernay at [email protected]